Red Hot Days
by shannyfish
Summary: A series of different scenes both case and non-case related scenes. This can be read as part of the series or can be read on its own. Different POVs used for different stories. Response to LJ MentalistPrompt community, table O.
1. What happens when you Google

**Title:** What happens when you Google…

**Author:** Shannon – shannyfish

**Disclaimer:** I do not own "The Mentalist" or its characters, Warner Brothers and Bruno Heller do. This is merely for entertainment purposes only.

**Rating:** G

**Summary:** Jane helps Lisbon use Google. (Prompt: Googling)

Part of the "Red Hot Days" series: a series of different scenes both case and non-case related scenes. This can be read as part of the series or can be read on its own. Different POVs used for different stories. Lisbon/Jane shipping and most likely

**Warning:** Takes place during season 3, so spoilers during season 3 are fair game. So currently, that's up to "Jolly Red Elf".

**Author's Note: ** #1 in the series

...

**CBI Headquarters**

Jane had been drinking his tea as he sat on his couch in the bullpen area. It had become quickly boring without Rigsby or Cho or Van Pelt there. Lisbon had them all out working on the case. He hadn't been sent with them even though he'd asked to go with Van Pelt, though that was fine. He'd just made sure that Van Pelt knew what he wanted asked, so she would do what he would have if he had gone…and Lisbon most likely wouldn't know until much later.

This was definitely boring.

He stood and carried his tea in the direction of Lisbon's office. Jane looked around. Yes, there were people there but they were not members of his team and just not as fun to mess with. Rigsby, Cho, and Van Pelt just made being at CBI far more entertaining than just sitting on his couch with his tea. He simply couldn't stand the stale environment and figured that he'd seek out some entertainment in the form of Teresa Lisbon. After all, who else could entertain him that was in the building? He figured that checking in with Lisbon and crashing on her couch would equal less trouble than paying a visit to Hightower.

Upon approaching her office, he noticed that her door was open. This was a lucky thing. It meant that she really couldn't expel him. After all, the door was open. That was a blatant invitation. Jane was definitely going to take it. He strolled into her office and made himself comfortable on her couch and sipped her tea before looking up at her.

"Oh hi, Lisbon," he said as if he'd been there the entire time.

She glared at him and then went back to what she was doing. He watched as he sipped his tea. Lisbon was furiously typing on her keyboard. A furious type-type-type type. Jane raised his eyebrows as he leaned over to set his teacup down before gracefully standing. In no time he'd made his way behind her without her noticing. Jane was sure that this was only due to the fact that she was so irritated with her keyboard and her computer screen. There was the line that was pronounced between her eyebrows. The line that only formed when she was really irritated and frustrated.

He saw the line a lot.

"What are you doing?" he asked as he peeked over her shoulder.

Inside he enjoyed the small jump she made at the surprised and unexpected sound of his voice so close to her. He smirked and placed his hand on the back of her chair. He spied her screen and took in the Google home page. Right now the search box was empty, but obviously something hadn't been cooperating with him.

"Googling," Lisbon responded.

She briefly glared at him for a moment before turning back to her screen. Her fingers didn't move though. He leaned down so that his head was next to hers.

"What exactly are you Googling?" Jane asked curiously. "And why do you think it's necessary to beat up your poor defenseless keyboard?"

"It's not bringing up what I want. I keep getting an error," she explained after a moment.

Jane tilted his head. "What exactly?"

"I'm trying to look up information on that resort," Lisbon told him. "See if there are any other customer complaints—"

"I doubt that someone's going to write a review for their husband being murdered at that resort," Jane said.

Lisbon shook her head. "I was hoping more to find out if there are specific negative complaints about employees possibly that may have had something to do with the murder. Sometimes reviewers can be very detailed."

She entered the resort's name into the Google search engine again and ended up with an error page. Lisbon leaned back in her chair and Jane felt the shift in her weight. He could feel her irritation and frustration rolling off of her. Lisbon was never good in this condition. He needed to diffuse it quickly.

"Why don't you try typing in CBI and see what you come up with," Jane suggested with a small smile.

"No."

"Why not?"

"Why should I?"

Jane shrugged. "Fun."

"No."

So, Jane took matters into his own hands and spun Lisbon's office chair away from the keyboard just long enough for him to type in the search into Google. "CB&I is the first runner up followed by the Colorado Bureau of Investigation and then The Center for Business Intelligence. That's sad," he said as he scrolled down and then clicked on the link to the second page and scrolled down again. "Our CBI isn't even on the first two pages." She pushed his hands away and retook her position at the computer.

"CBI is a very common abbreviation," she told him, her voice still filled with irritation.

"Try typing your name into Google," Jane said, leaning once again over her shoulder. His hand, this time, was lightly placed on her shoulder instead of the chair itself.

"No!" she protested. "I'm trying to work here," she argued and tried to shrug his hand from her shoulder. Lisbon twisted in her chair and brushed his hand from her shoulder and then quickly she pointed towards the door. "Leave. I'm too busy for your games."

"You love my games!" he told her as he thrust his arms out.

"No," she said as she glared at him. "I will admit, sometimes your antics are amusing and sometimes entertaining, but most times they just get me into trouble with Hightower. I'm probably on my second strike with her."

"C'mon! You Google your name, I bet you'll come up with a bunch of great things you've done during your career thus far," Jane said. "Not so scary. Just a little search engine. T. E. R. E. S. A. Space. L.—"

Jane felt slightly cheated as he hadn't yet gotten to the part where it was highly likely that her name and picture were in the tabloids section of some website about how she was dating Walter Mashburn. It was good for her though. He had to admit that Mashburn was an okay guy, but he doubted that there'd be honestly anything serious that would develop between the two of them. He was far too rich and ostentatious and Lisbon had too many trust issues. As good as it would for Lisbon to find happiness, he didn't think it was going to happen soon.

"I know how to spell my own name, Jane," she told him and pointed to the door again. "You can do all the Googling you want from in the bullpen and away from me. I have serious work to do."

"You're all kinds of serious work, aren't you?" Jane asked. "That has to really weigh down on you."

"Jane! Really? I know you're bored because I sent the team out and you're stuck here, but can't you go take a nap or read a book or something?" she asked.

He knew that Hightower had really been on her case lately and she was just getting more and more stressed out. It wasn't good for her or the team. It especially wasn't good for him or the cases. Honestly, he didn't mean to cause her so much trouble, really, that was the last thing in the world he wanted. Teresa Lisbon was the closest thing he currently had to a best friend and the last thing that he wanted was for her to get fired, but he honestly needed to use his tricks in order to assist in solving all the cases they'd managed to solve thus far.

"You should really switch to decaf," he mumbled.

"Jane!"

He held his hands up in surrender. "Why don't you try Googling my name? It could make you feel better…"

"No," she said.

He noticed that this time her voice wasn't as stern and wasn't anywhere near as irritated. It was more filled with sadness. And he wondered if she'd done the search already. Of course, he'd never attempted to Google his own name, but he could only think of what could come up in the search if he had. A myriad of things…and some things that he was trying to keep in the past.

"You know…Google probably wasn't the original name that they thought up," Jane said, trying to slightly shift the subject at hand. He really didn't want to be banished from Lisbon's office. After all, she even had a couch in there. At the very least he could nap in there…if she wasn't mad at him. He had been slowly working on making her couch broken in and just as comfy as his was in the bullpen area.

"Go away, Jane," Lisbon said.

Instead, Jane just made his way around her desk and back over to her couch. He lifted his tea from where it was perched and sipped it for a second as he thought. "Aoogle… Boogle…isn't that a game? Boogle? Or is it Boggle?" Jane sat and pondered for a moment. "Coogle…no that sounds too much of a cross between cooties and cougar."

He didn't miss Lisbon's irritated expression.

"Doogle?"

"Jane—"

She sounded tired, well on top of all the irritation.

"I'm drinking my tea," he said as he held up his cup higher for her to see.

"Can you please do so quietly if you're going to remain in my office."

"I can…try."

…

**Three Hours Later…**

**Crime Scene**

He was excited to leave the office. Though he was starting to think that if he hadn't been in such close proximity to Lisbon that she would have just left him behind. She really wasn't in a very good mood. He'd have to remember to really cheer her up later. He wasn't sure how, but he'd think on it and then attempt it…possibly when her gun wasn't close by.

"Victim is Claire Gills," Van Pelt announced. "Twenty-four. She was going to one of the local community colleges. Her room mate found her."

Jane looked down at the young girl that had been slain. Her life was still so young. He crouched down and looked her over. He knew that she wasn't rich; she was working her way through college. She colored her own hair and painted her own nails. She cared about her appearance but only to an extent. It was likely that she had a boyfriend. He was the reason that she kept her appearance how she did. She tried to look pretty for him.

Moving, he looked around the room she'd been found in. Her bedroom. The bed was perfectly made and yet she was on the floor. She'd been stabbed to death. It was senseless. It didn't appear to be sexually motivated and it didn't seem to be a robbery. He continued to look around. He noticed that Lisbon wasn't far.

"Poogle?" he offered.

Lisbon glared over at him. "I don't think that that is very helpful, Jane."

"I think I still like Joogle so far…"

"I don't like any of them."

"Not even the original?"

"If I hear Google or some variation, I very well may shoot you," she warned.

She sent him death glares before walking away. Jane frowned. This was definitely a problem. There had to be some way to cheer her up. Of course, he knew that if he stopped getting into trouble that that would most likely help, but he wasn't sure how golden he'd be in Hightower's eyes then. Less cases would get solved.

He'd think about it.

…


	2. The Simple Life or is it?

**Title:** The Simple Life…or Is It?

**Author:** Shannon – shannyfish

**Disclaimer:** I do not own "The Mentalist" or its characters, Warner Brothers and Bruno Heller do. This is merely for entertainment purposes only.

**Rating:** G

**Summary:** The team investigate the murder of a homeless person. (Prompt: Vagabond Life)

Part of the "Red Hot Days" series: a series of different scenes both case and non-case related scenes. This can be read as part of the series or can be read on its own. Different POVs used for different stories. Lisbon/Jane shipping and most likely

**Warning:** Takes place during season 3, so spoilers during season 3 are fair game. So currently, that's up to "Jolly Red Elf".

**Author's Note: ** #2 in the series

...

**Angeles National Forest**

Lisbon knew that the only reason that they'd been sent down there was because the body had been found on federal land and quite frankly the locals had already spoken up that they didn't want it. She was sure that was because the body was that of someone that most likely wouldn't be reported missing. Wouldn't be missed. It was sad, but sadder still that she wasn't sure if they'd be able to solve the case and close it.

Their victim was homeless and apparently no one saw anything. The body was found upon the sweep of that section of the forest by a ranger. The rangers hadn't been extremely helpful in anyway over the phone, all she knew was that they'd swept the area the night before and it had been vacant and they were insistent that they didn't allow squatting. The Los Angeles Police Department had been equally unhelpful. If their victim had been a child or someone famous, then every law enforcement agency in the area would be all over it, but since it was someone who wouldn't be missed then it didn't matter.

She didn't like that.

Lisbon liked to think that everyone mattered. After all, everyone was someone's mother, father, sister, brother, son, daughter, or friend. Did it really matter their social status? A murder was a murder. The senseless ones were just sadder.

When they arrived on scene, the team already had their duties. She'd noticed, though, that Jane had been more quiet. More distant. On one hand it bothered and worried her, but on another it brought her great peace. She just was too stressed. There was too much to deal with. And quite frankly she enjoyed her job and Hightower had been giving her looks lately…looks that made her feel like Hightower was considering replacing her. She'd worked hard to get where she was and she thought that she made it work. But all the stress was weighing heavily on her and she knew that at this point it was even impacting her at work. She was tired, she wasn't focused, and she was far more irritable.

Lisbon had noticed that Jane wasn't the only one who had distanced himself. Lately, the rest of the team had been doing whatever she asked without any additional banter between them before doing it. They were doing everything at the snap of her fingers. She realized she hadn't remembered hearing the joking or the bantering that she was used to. It wasn't good for them. With this job, you saw the evils of humanity and the ugliness of the world…they needed their coping mechanisms in order to come out of this job sane. She'd have to talk to them all later…try to keep them from walking on eggshells around her. It made her feel guilty. That's how she'd been feeling she was doing with Hightower.

"I'm afraid I wasn't too useful, Lisbon," Jane said.

She looked around for him and then finally settled on him off to the side. His hands were in his pockets and he was looking down. "That's fine," she said. After a moment, she realized that her tone hadn't been as she'd intended. It'd been harsh and angry. She shook her head and rubbed her forehead. "I'm…I'm sorry, Jane," she said quietly. "I didn't mean to snap at you."

"It's okay."

"It's not."

"We need to find out where he lived. That's going to help us get a better understanding of who he was as a person and his day-to-day life," Jane said.

Lisbon gave him a small smile. She was thankful for his quick change of the subject, though she still felt bad for snapping at him. He walked off towards where the vehicles were parked and her smile fell. Lisbon sighed and looked around. It seemed like only Cho and the ranger remained. Great. She was scaring everyone away. That really wasn't a good sign of team leadership as far as she was concerned.

"I think we're done here," Lisbon spoke up and watched as Cho nodded.

…

**Motel**

They'd spent the day working what leads the local cops had given them as to where the homeless lived in that area, but so far they hadn't gotten anything. Lisbon was pretty sure that the homeless population was even less helpful than the police. She hadn't thought that that was possible until they met with them. She'd stayed back for most of the day and had let the others work the case.

Cho had gone out with Jane and had returned with food. They'd pretty much all agreed that they were done with the current vibe of the area and had opted to ate in their rooms. She sat quietly on the bed as she watched as Van Pelt and Rigsby spoke and every so often they'd speak to her. Cho and Jane weren't far from the other two and were chatting. Okay, so Jane was doing most of the chatting. She couldn't help but feel like she was outside of the room and looking in, but no one could see her.

"I'm sorry," she spoke up. Lisbon looked down at the box of Chinese food in her hand after a moment and then looked up.

"You don't have anything to be sorry for," Rigsby said.

Lisbon nodded. "I've been short with you all… I've been making life difficult…far more difficult than it normally is. That isn't right."

"In all fairness, this comes back to being Jane's fault," Cho said.

"No."

"No," Jane cut in. "Cho's right."

"Hightower's not going to fire you, is she?" Van Pelt asked. "We've closed too many cases together."

"I'll leave before I get put in your position with Jane," Cho told Lisbon and then looked to Jane. "No offense."

"None taken," Jane said slowly.

"Hightower will do what she thinks is right for the unit," Lisbon said slowly. And it was true. She had no doubt that Hightower would fire her in a heartbeat if she believed that that was best. She'd tried her best, that was what mattered. Though she wasn't sure if that was truly enough.

"I'm not going to let Hightower replace you, Lisbon," Jane promised.

She just nodded. "Look, let's just drop the subject. I just don't want you all walking on eggshells around me, got it? I'm not mad at any of you. I just need sleep." Lisbon wanted it clear and she didn't want to dwell on things that they couldn't change.

So, everyone went back to eating and things were quiet. Quieter than before and quieter than the team had ever been. Lisbon glanced over at Jane to see that he was looking at her as well. She wished for him to say something…anything would due at this point. And as if they had some kind of telepathic connection, Jane opened his mouth and started to talk.

"So…we're going out full force tomorrow and talking to people about this John Doe, right?" Jane asked.

"Sure," Cho said.

"Not sure how far we're going to get though," Van Pelt spoke up.

"We're just not thinking like our John Doe. He lived a vagabond life. With no permanent residence, he most likely wandered a lot. We can't even be sure that he's from this area. Think of him like a member of a circus. Circuses travel. You travel from town to town. Vagabonds are much the same except they sleep in boxes or underpasses. They are used to adapting to what life lays out for them. This isn't going to be easy."

"Hopefully someone can tell us if he was a local or not at the very least," Rigsby said.

"Have you tried running his face and description through the missing persons database yet?" Jane asked.

There was a long pause.

"Well?" Lisbon prompted. From the look on Van Pelt's face, she already knew the answer. "He could be in there. Sometimes people go off their medication and run away and end up on the streets."

"I-I thought the locals had already done it," Van Pelt admitted. "That sounds really stupid now that I think about it since they haven't been any help."

"It's fine," Lisbon said. "First thing tomorrow, just get on that."

Van Pelt nodded.

"I brought along a game for us all to play," Jane announced as he got up. "But it's in my room, so I'll be right back."

"What kind of game?" Rigsby asked. "You win at every game."

"This is a game of strategy."

"What's it called?" Cho asked.

"The Mexican Train Game," Jane responded.

"Sounds racist."

Jane shrugged and then disappeared.

"It…could be fun…" Lisbon said with a shrug.

Three hours later, they were still playing Jane's new game. Lisbon had to admit that it was fun even though it was technically pretty easy. Jane had suggested that perhaps they acquire some alcohol a few times. It was basically a game using dominoes.

The game was set up on the table and they'd moved it between the two beds, so that everyone could sit on a bed or in a chair. In the middle of the table with a plastic track piece that held a single domino and then around the bottom were eight slots for tracks to start. Each round started with a double sided number. You started at twelve for the first round and the final round was the double sided blank domino. This time they were on seven. It had taken them a pretty long time the first two rounds to figure things out, but now they'd figured it out and things were faster.

"I have it," Van Pelt announced.

Lisbon watched as she placed the double sided domino in the center. The reason that Jane had said that they could play while drinking was because this set was colored coded. She had been tempted and amused by the idea, but she figured that perhaps it was something to do another day were they weren't on a case. Van Pelt pressed the button that made the train sound and everyone lit up. It was exciting in a small way. So, she looked down at her twelve dominoes in front of her and she found one with a seven on its end and then slowly started to hook her dominoes so that the ends matched each other until she had a pretty good size track start when it was finally her turn. She had four left over, which she thought was pretty good.

Van Pelt started to lie out her track and Lisbon was impressed, she'd managed all but two. So, maybe she'd win. It didn't really matter, it was fun and Lisbon was enjoying herself. Rigsby went next, but only used about half of his dominoes. She waited as Jane put out his tracks, so far Jane hadn't won a round once, which Lisbon thought was good for team morale. She couldn't tell if he was doing it on purpose or if he was truly playing the game out. When it came around to her turn, she laid out her pieces excitedly and then waited for Cho. So far, everyone had started a track. Now was the trickier part.

"So, now you can either add to yours or start a Mexican train," Jane reminded.

The Mexican train was a fun thing. Someone just had to have a domino with the seven on the end to start a new track, but this track could be added onto by everyone at anytime. Everyone else's track was only allowed to be added to by someone else if that person couldn't add to it and it would be 'opened' by the placing of their plastic train piece on their track.

It was her turn and Lisbon only had two pieces left. It would be a perfect move if she could pull it off. She needed to find a spot that needed a two. So far she wasn't seeing any spaces needing a two that were 'open'. She frowned and then pulled a domino from the graveyard. She put it down on her track, which 'closed' it. She removed her red train and waited. She'd keep her eye out for the two. Slowly, the team took their turns and she waited with excitement. Rigsby's track was 'open' and there was currently a two at the end of his track. Jane added to his own track and then it was her turn. Lisbon placed her double sided two so that it made a 'T' on the track and then added the other tile with the two on it to it.

"Done," she announced with excitement.

"Nice!" Jane told her as their eyes met.

Maybe this was what they needed. More team bonding. Of course maybe it helped that it wasn't a game involving cards or something else that Jane always seemed to win. Jane always winning never made anything fun. But this was something where it seemed so far that it could shape up to be something that they could play on a regular basis. Or at least she hoped since it was fun.

…

**San Fernando, California**

The closest city to the drop site was the likely place to start. Lisbon had tried to talk to the locals again. They'd at least given her some basic information. She knew that there were places were homeless would squat but she wanted to know if there were places that were specific to the area. They'd given her a few places to look: a list of abandoned buildings, bus stations, train stations, and along the freeways. This wasn't a short list, but at least it was something to go off of.

"You seem to enjoy this too much," Lisbon noted.

He turned to her looking a bit surprised. "What?"

"You have this lifestyle of our John Doe so romanticized," she told him. "This vagabond life that he apparently led."

"Well, Van Pelt hasn't had any hits yet on missing persons, yet, right?"

"Right," she said slowly. "So?"

"So? Why can't it be romanticized? After all, sometimes this is the easiest life, the life they lead."

"I don't see how it's easy," Lisbon said. "No shelter, no food, no water, no clean clothes—"

"They learn how to survive. They make it work and they never have to worry about house payments or car payments or what new toy they should buy," Jane told her. "It's probably the closest thing we have to mountain men but in the city."

"You just seriously made them seem creepier," Lisbon told him.

"What? Why?"

"Did you see that special on TV?" she asked. When he shook his head, she explained. "There was this girl running…I forget where…some foresty area. She was running this trail with her boyfriend and these two mountain men came out and shot the boyfriend and then kidnapped her. They decided that the one needed a wife. Apparently they don't have many social events," Lisbon told him. "They managed to save the woman and her boyfriend lived, but seriously creepy…"

"And messed up," Jane agreed. "But it's not like we have reports of homeless people grabbing random people off the streets for some ulterior motives."

"At least that we don't know of," she joked with a slightly smile.

He smiled and they headed towards the Mission City Transit station. There was a main station and that's where they were going. It was one of the few places in town that sold bus passes and such in person. Lisbon had already called ahead so that they knew that they were coming. They waited in line patiently. There was only one person manning the booth and Lisbon figured that if they got in line it would be easier, plus Jane seemed to be entertained by the transit map.

"Do you know that they also partner with Metrolink?"

"No," Lisbon answered.

"They do," Jane said. "Do you know how many trains Metrolink runs?"

"No."

"Eight if you count the Amtrak line that runs there."

"Good to know."

"Can we go ride one of them?"

Lisbon turned around to look at him. "Why?"

"It could be fun," he said with a shrug. "We could also survey how many vagabonds we happen to see along that route."

"Perhaps," she said. It was finally their turn at the booth and she stepped forward. Lisbon held up her badge. "I'm Teresa Lisbon with CBI, we talked on the phone. This is Patrick Jane," she said as she motioned to him.

"Right," the woman said.

…

**The Green Line**

Jane was practically skipping as they made their way into the train station. The woman at the Mission City Transit booth had given them both a pass for the train, which Lisbon was pretty sure had made Jane's day. There was one line that ran through San Fernando through Metrolink and it was the Green Line that serviced the Antelope Valley. It went from Union Station in Los Angeles and went all the way to Lancaster. The station in San Fernando was the fourth station from Union Station, which meant that they'd be riding the train all day. Jane, she'd noticed, had already figured this out and had brought along lunches and snacks.

"So, we take the train to Lancaster and to Union Station and then back again?" Jane asked her.

"I guess so," Lisbon said. She wasn't thrilled about sitting on the train all day long, but she figured that at least she wasn't by herself and it would help the case or at least she hoped it would. The rest of the team was tracking down other leads with locations.

"So…an hour and a half to Lancaster. Two hours to Union Station and about forty minutes to get back here."

"So, we're riding this damn train for over four hours?" Lisbon asked feeling more and more irritated that she'd agreed to this.

"Pretty much," Jane said. "But when we get to Lancaster and Union Station we'll have some time in between trains. There's like a ten minute break in Lancaster and at least a thirty minute one at Union Station."

"Good to know you've planned ahead," Lisbon said as their train approached.

"Chip?" Jane asked as he held up his bag.

She took a chip and shook her head before putting it in her mouth. She and Jane boarded together. The train was packed and there was standing room only in their section. So, they stood together and held onto a pole. At least there was a pole. Lisbon though was grateful for the ability to stand for a while; it would help balance out the day.

…

**Union Station**

"You have to admit that today has been fun," Jane said.

"You have a sick definition of fun," she commented.

"I have learned a lot about the vagabond lifestyle," he offered.

"Jane, we had to break up a knife fight, we were probably exposed to all kinds of illness, that lady's baby almost threw up all over us…and that was only in our car and only from San Fernando to Lancaster."

"There were also a few drug deals that went on," Jane said.

"What? I didn't see anything."

Jane shrugged. "I didn't tell you because then the whole car would end up being handcuffed. I honestly didn't think you came prepared with more than two sets."

"I didn't, but-"

"C'mon, it was part of the ambiance of it all. You should have Rigsby go through our John Doe's personal effects again. If he was a vagabond, I bet he used the train and bus systems," Jane said. "I would have."

"I'll know where to look for you then if you decide to live the simple life."

…


	3. It's not what it looks like

**Title:** It's not what it looks like…wait, maybe it is…

**Author:** Shannon – shannyfish

**Disclaimer:** I do not own "The Mentalist" or its characters, Warner Brothers and Bruno Heller do. This is merely for entertainment purposes only.

**Rating:** G

**Summary:** Jane the Free Spirit. (Prompt: Free Spirit)

Part of the "Red Hot Days" series: a series of different scenes both case and non-case related scenes. This can be read as part of the series or can be read on its own. Different POVs used for different stories. Lisbon/Jane shipping and most likely

**Warning:** Takes place during season 3, so spoilers during season 3 are fair game. So currently, that's up to "Jolly Red Elf".

**Author's Note: ** #3 in the series

...

**CBI Headquarters**

Lisbon had to admit that Jane was flat out irritating her. He'd been like this ever since they'd solved their last case. Jane had been far more of pain since. His explanation of his prancing was just that he was a free spirit. Lisbon wasn't sure how Jane professing himself as a free spirit was any different than how he acted before except the more annoying factor that was currently in full effect.

Patrick Jane was literally dancing around her office…again.

It was amusing the first time. And she'd found that he'd been doing similar things with everyone else too. Jane was far more bouncy right now.

A free spirit…

In their previous case, they'd found out that their homeless John Doe victim was in fact not homeless. He was just a man who had bad luck and had ended up with an injury and not remembering who he was or where he lived and had just took life as he came at him from that point on. The people that knew him had called him a free spirit. And ever since then, she swore that was Jane's new excuse for everything he did.

Lisbon knew that Hightower wouldn't take 'well, Jane's a free spirit' as a very good defense in anything that Jane did that ended up ultimately getting her into trouble. She sighed and pushed the paperwork aside. "You must want something…" Lisbon said finally. After all, Jane always wanted something.

"I'm just trying to cheer you up."

Jane didn't stop his jig. Lisbon wished that he'd stop. It only made her worry about what the future held for her. So far, it didn't look good. She really needed to start job searching, back-up plan. "How is this cheering me up?" she asked.

"You should dance with me," he said and stopped and held out a hand to her.

"No…" Lisbon said and looked at his hand absurdly. Jane was insane if he thought that she was going to dance around her office and CBI Headquarters like he'd been doing. She didn't think anyone would describe her as a free spirit and she was okay with that.

"You know, you should…you need some joy in your life," he told her. "It's the simple things in life, Lisbon."

She tilted her head. "Did you have some kind of life changing experience during the last case and I missed it or something?"

Jane stared at her for a moment. "No. I still plan on killing Red John slowly when we find him. That doesn't mean that in the here and now that we shouldn't actually live a little…"

"I'm living…" Lisbon told him.

This was the side of Jane that scared her. She could see the darkness in him. It scared her, scared her to know that he had such dark thoughts and that those thoughts differed from the outcome that she expected would happen in the near future. There was also something extremely sad about it…

"No," Jane argued. "You're dying…slowly… This bureaucratic paperwork bullshit is killing you, Lisbon. How many hours a week do you spend doing it? How many hours a year? You're wound too tight and stressed. It's not good for you. For five minutes you should just relax and let yourself be free."

"I do that…"

"When?"

"When I sleep," she said with a smirk before pulling her paperwork back to her and starting to work on it once again. She heard Jane's frustrated sigh and it made her smile brightly down at her paperwork. It amused her to frustrate him. It was good for him.

"You probably do paperwork in your sleep…and stress about what the next day will hold," Jane said. "You, Lisbon, may not be a free spirit…but it wouldn't hurt you to try to be one for a few minutes a day…"

"What is it going to accomplish?" Lisbon asked.

"Nothing," Jane admitted. "But I bet you'll feel better."

"I'll look like a fool," she said. "I thought that that was what you do best." She knew that in one context those words were harsh and mean, but she didn't think that Jane would honestly take them to heart. After all, he was their circus act.

"How about you dance with me?" he asked and held out his hand again.

"Dance with you?"

"I wasn't so bad at that reunion," he pointed out.

He had a point. She'd enjoyed that, actually. It had been nice. She distinctly remembered being happy and relaxed. "There's no music," she pointed out.

Jane smiled brightly at her. "I can hum some," he offered as he moved to the door and pulled it shut before systematically going through and pulling closed every blind that was in Lisbon's office. "Shall we?" he asked again, offering his hand to her once again.

Lisbon decided that it wouldn't be so bad and that it would get Jane to leave her alone, so she took the offered hand and stood up. She smiled when he started to hum something random. It sounded familiar and classic but she couldn't place it. It didn't matter though. Her hand went into his and the other went around his shoulder. She felt his hands pull her close and one hand held hers while the other snaked around her waist. It was nice. She had to admit that it did feel good. He continued to hum and she closed her eyes and they slowly stepped about in a kind of dance, every now and then she'd be aware that they'd shifted and made a turn.

"See…I knew you could be a free spirit," he teased.

She laughed and found herself resting her chin on his shoulder and holding him as closely as he was holding her. Their hummed music continued and she allowed the dance to continue as well.

"What the hell is going on here?"

The voice pulled Lisbon from the content world that she'd been living in for the last few minutes and pulled her back to the stark reality of her boss standing at her door. She pulled away from Jane as she tried to think of the best things to tell Hightower, things that wouldn't get either of them fired. "Ma'am…it's not what it looks like," Lisbon started.

"No, it's exactly what it looks like," Jane interrupted. "Lisbon and I were dancing."

"Why exactly?" Hightower asked, her arms crossed over her chest.

Lisbon frowned; she really didn't want to answer that. Before she could even open her mouth to respond, Jane was already speaking.

"Why not?" Jane countered.

"It's very odd, Mr. Jane."

Jane shrugged. "I'm a free spirit."

"Really? That's your response?" Lisbon snapped at Jane. She'd had enough of that damn reasoning. Her eyes widened a little bit and she turned back towards Hightower. She wanted to be able to appease the beast without getting into anymore trouble than she already probably was in with Hightower. She allowed her breathing to level and she hoped she sounded calm and level headed. "Ma'am…you know how Jane is. He was spinning around my office, so I figured if I wanted to get any work done then I'd have to give in for a few minutes. I promise that I'm working on the paperwork from the last case."

Lisbon noticed that Hightower seemed to approve of her explanation with a nod. She was happy that it seemed like there wasn't going to be any problems. Of course, that very well may depend on whether or not Jane could actually keep his mouth shut for five minutes. So, she waited there quietly and as patiently as possible.

"Mr. Jane, perhaps you should head home so that the rest of the team can finish up their paperwork in peace," Hightower suggested.

"Where's the fun in that?" Jane asked.

"Jane!" Lisbon chastised as she glared at him sideways.

"What…I want to help in some way, I just like to think of it as keeping morale up."

"Then go do a food run," Lisbon told him.

Jane smirked. "See? I can be helpful," he said before leaving the office.

Lisbon turned back to Hightower who was still standing there. "Sorry about that, Ma'am."

"Let's try to keep the shenanigans to a minimum," Hightower said.

"Yes, Ma'am," Lisbon said and watched her walk away. She waited until Hightower was out of her office before opening the blinds again. She didn't miss Van Pelt, Rigsby, and Cho acting like they'd been working the whole time. Great, just what she needed, rumors flying…

…


	4. The Dress

**Title:** The Dress

**Author:** Shannon – shannyfish

**Disclaimer:** I do not own "The Mentalist" or its characters, Warner Brothers and Bruno Heller do. This is merely for entertainment purposes only.

**Rating:** G

**Summary:** Jane and Lisbon follow clues that lead them to the shopping mall in order to help solve their case. (Prompt: Shopping)

Part of the "Red Hot Days" series: a series of different scenes both case and non-case related scenes. This can be read as part of the series or can be read on its own. Different POVs used for different stories. Lisbon/Jane shipping and most likely

**Warning:** Takes place during season 3, so spoilers during season 3 are fair game. So currently, that's up to "Bloodhounds".

**Author's Note: ** #4 in the series

...

**Brea Mall**

Lisbon sighed as she waited for Jane. He was playing at one of the carts in the mall that was filled with coin-operated machines. Almost all of them were candy, but a few were stocked with stickers or small toys that were packaged in plastic balls with removable lids. She should have known better than to bring him out into such a public place. The last thing she needed was for him to start causing trouble and for half of the mall to complain to Hightower. She'd definitely be fired then.

"Jane…come on," she complained.

"One more quarter," he said as he peeked out from the other side at her. He was smiling and his eyes were twinkling.

Normally, that was a very bad sign, but she didn't see how he could be possibly causing too much trouble with just candy, stickers, and small toys. Though, this was Jane. "Jane—"

"One more moment!" he said quickly, his finger flew up in the air. "Your patience will be awarded."

"I doubt that," Lisbon spat and crossed her arms over her chest in annoyance. At the very least there weren't many people there. At least not yet. It was a weekday and it was only one in the afternoon. They'd all flown out the night before. After a moment, she got fed up with waiting for him and stomped around to the side she'd last seen him on, only to find that he was no longer there. "Jane-"

"Tada!" he exclaimed.

She jumped a bit and closed her eyes and swore in her head. She didn't think she needed to swear out loud, and then she glared at Jane. He knew he was not on her good side right now…and yet, he still smiled and his eyes were still twinkling. In his hands he held up a plastic bag with M&Ms in it and by the size of them she knew that they were peanut M&Ms at that.

"Are you wanting me to shoot you today?" she asked, her words dripping with frustration and irritation.

"Come on, lighten up, Lisbon," he said and pushed the bag of candy into her hand. He started to snack on his own candy in his own bag. "The chocolate will ease your nerves…"

"Maybe I don't want it," she said as she headed in the direction of the store that was their actual destination.

"Really? Come on now, I know better than that… I don't know why you think that you can trick me," Jane said.

The idea of shooting him was looking better and better. She wondered if Jane ever listened to himself or if he cared about how annoying he could be. Lisbon sideway glanced to make sure he was busy people watching as they walked before she reached in the bag ever so stealthily and pulled out some M&Ms. She popped them in her mouth and savored them for a moment.

"Ah ha! I told you! You see, I know you, Lisbon!" Jane said.

She frowned. Really? Couldn't he just be silent for five minutes? Lisbon wondered if there was some kind of psychological condition for always having to be right, or maybe that was just being egotistical? She was sure that there should be a more definite condition…possibly known as Jane-ism.

"I hate you, I do!" she told him as she stuffed the bag into the pocket of her jacket. There really wasn't a need for one here in Southern California, but she felt the need to wear it anyways.

"You've said that before!" Jane pointed out with a grin.

They entered the store they'd been looking for. It was a specialty dress shop. Now, normally Lisbon tended to stray away from such shops because she didn't have any use for it and was far more comfortable in jeans and a t-shirt than she'd ever be in a fancy dress, but the case demanded it. They'd been called in to help with a murder investigation of a teenage couple. At the scene they'd found a dress that had been torn up like confetti and sprinkled over the bodies. The locals had traced the dress back to the store they were at now.

"Marie's," Jane said as they looked up at the sign briefly. "She's probably some little old lady who sews these gorgeous masterpieces by hand. Sews every little rhinestone on by hand."

Lisbon just looked at him like he was insane. Okay, so there was a good chance that he was. "Since when do you know about dresses—"

"Gowns, Lisbon," he quickly corrected.

"Whatever," she mumbled. "And what do you know about rhinestones?"

"The things that I know would surprise even you," he told her as they wandered through the sea of satin and chiffon.

"You seriously scare me sometimes," she mumbled. The only thing she knew about these dresses—gowns…was that once in a while she was required to wear one. She just generally went with something that she thought looked nice and was appropriate and that was in her price range. She doubted that some of the dresses she saw were in her price range…and some of them were definitely not appropriate.

"Can I help you?" came a sweet voice. "What occasion are you shopping for?"

"What occasion do you think we're shopping for?" Jane asked as he moved in closer to Lisbon and wrapped an arm around her.

Lisbon rolled her eyes as she foresaw a Jane-act coming on. She already knew that there was no fighting it. It wouldn't do her any good. So, she decided she'd go along with it. For five minutes…no, no…two minutes. Yes, she'd go along with it for two minutes."

"Congratulations!" the young woman told them.

She resisted the urge to smack Jane and correct the woman; instead she smiled as Jane guided her along to wherever the woman was taking them. Lisbon really wanted to eat a few more of her M&Ms…maybe they would help to ease the headache she already felt coming…but she figured that that would be a bit inappropriate.

"When's the big day?" the woman asked.

"August," Jane responded.

"This August?"

Jane nodded.

Lisbon remained silent and took in the wall of white. Good lord, Jane was seriously going to kill her. It was either going to be through Hightower or one of his schemes that just made one of her veins burst.

"That's soon!" the woman said a bit shocked.

"We don't want to wait," Jane said. "That won't be a problem, will it? Money isn't an option. I want her to have exactly what she wants! It's her day, after all!"

"Oh no, no…we'll make it work of course," the saleswoman said quickly.

"You hear that, Honey?" Jane asked. "Isn't that great?"

Lisbon felt like vomiting just from his overly cheery voice. She was about to come clean that they were with the CBI and what had brought them there when the young woman grabbed her and started to haul her towards the dressing rooms. "Wha-" She felt dazed as she stood in the empty dressing room, trying to process what was happening.

"Do you need a bra?"

"What?"

"A bra," the young woman said slower. "You know…a strapless…"

"Um…"

"I'll get you one," she said before scurrying off.

She glared at Jane as he came into view. He was obviously enjoying this far too much. "I swear…" Jane quickly pointed and she turned to see what he was pointing at. The woman was returning with more than just a bra. She had a few bags of things with her. "Actually—"

"Don't mind her," Jane interrupted. "She really hates shopping… If she had her way we'd be going through a drive-thru chapel in Vegas and she'd be able to wear her jeans." He laughed and the woman laughed with him. "I'm thinking something simple…not old fashioned…but something simple and pretty…"

"I understand," the woman said and then handed Lisbon the items. "I brought you a bridal bra, a underskirt…just in case, and a pair of shoes. I think I got the sizes all right. I'll be right back."

Lisbon stared at her dumbfounded and then turned back to Jane.

"It's all in the name of the case," he defended.

"Jane—"

"She's coming back."

"We're on a case—"

"Do you really want to upset her?"

"I really don't care."

"Well, I do."

"So ask her for her number."

"That wouldn't be right," Jane said in disapproval. "Not with us getting married…"

"Jane!"

His smile widened and he motioned for her to go into the room.

"You won't need the underskirt," the woman announced. "Do you need any help getting into the dress? I have just the perfect one here."

"N-no…"

Lisbon found herself receiving a dress bag and she just figured it was going to save her sanity in the long run to continue with Jane's escapade. So, she unzipped the dress bag and pushed it aside to reveal a white wedding dress. She took a step back and just stared at it. Sure, she'd thought about getting married, but it really wasn't a huge priority for her. Her career had come first for years.

The dress was beautiful though and she felt tears welling up in her eyes. She reached out and pulled the skirt out of the bottom of the bag. The top was heart shaped and had lace and beading. It wasn't too much. It was subtle. It sort of looked like little white flowers. She let the fabric of the skirt flow through her hands as she felt through the length of the skirt.

"Do you need any help? I can zip you up," the woman called.

She frowned. She hadn't even put on the shoes. The bra she'd managed after mentally arguing with the rows and rows of loops to hook into. She suddenly found herself quickly pulling the dress from the hanger and stepping into it. She brought it up and held it in place with one hand as she tried to zip it up with the other hand. "Okay, I need help," she admitted and opened the door for the young woman. She was zipped up in a snap and guided out to the area with the half circle of mirrors. She was instructed to step up on the pedestal and so she did and couldn't stop staring at herself in the dress.

It was unreal.

"It's a crinkle chiffon gown. Sweetheart bodice, of course, with the lace and beading. It's a soft A-line…it's really subtle," the woman told Jane.

"I see that…it's really…breathtaking."

"It has a sweep train…but that can be altered to specifications if needed."

"Can we have a minute?" Jane asked the woman.

"Let me just get one more thing," the woman said. She was back a moment later, placing a headband in place. "I'll give you two some time."

The headband was subtle, like the dress. It was silver with crystals and along one side was a deco design with the crystals and pearls in it. Lisbon still didn't know what to say. Maybe it wasn't so bad to play dress up once in a while.

"You look absolutely beautiful," Jane told her.

"This isn't helping the case," she said quietly.

"But you look beautiful," he repeated.

"Are you implying that normally I don't?" she asked, her tone full of irritation suddenly.

"No, no," Jane said quickly.

She found herself being forcibly straightened by Jane so that she was staring at herself again in the mirror. "Jane—"

"Isn't this like every little girl's fantasty?" he asked.

"I'm not a little girl."

"Come on, Lisbon…"

"I'm probably never going to get married, Jane, so it doesn't matter," Lisbon pushed. And she felt that way. She was how old? And she wasn't even in a serious relationship? Not unless she counted her job as her serious relationship. It was a little pathetic actually. Okay, perhaps more than a little.

"Come on," Jane said.

Lisbon frowned at him through the mirror.

"Any man would be more than lucky to have you as his wife, Lisbon."

"I'm a cop, Jane. An agent of the CBI. I highly doubt any man is going to be okay with that. Plus, I'm the leader of the team. I think that's even more intimidating."

"Their loss," Jane said. "I'd marry you."

And before the words could be fully absorbed and balked at, Lisbon got down and headed back to the dressing room. She didn't know what to feel or what to do. She knew it was just words. Words from Jane. But for a moment, she'd felt angry and sad and touched.

"Lisbon—"

"I'm just changing," she said.

Several minutes later, she emerged from the dressing room in her regular clothes and looked about for Jane. He was nowhere in sight. She was confused and even a little worried. Jane missing was never a good thing. It only meant that he was going to stir up trouble somewhere unsupervised.

"Your fiancée is waiting outside," the woman said. "Don't worry, I gave him all the dress information."

"Oh," she said. "Thanks."

When she exited the store, she found him with a dress bag. She frowned heavily. "What's in the bag?"

"Something."

It was a tan solid bag with the name 'Marie's' across it in white. It wasn't an extremely long bag, but it was long enough and tied at the end. "Jane—"

"Look, I bought something, is that a crime?"

"No…"

"Okay, so what do you say to some lunch?"

"You're always hungry."

"They have cinnabun, that could be good for later."

Lisbon just shook her head and headed back the way they came. The food court was in that direction and she'd be able to appease Jane through food and then meet back up with the team. But the dress bag was currently haunting her. Jane was up to something. Something that she wasn't sure that she'd like.

. . .


	5. The Car

**Title:** The Car

**Author:** Shannon – shannyfish

**Disclaimer:** I do not own "The Mentalist" or its characters, Warner Brothers and Bruno Heller do. This is merely for entertainment purposes only.

**Rating:** G

**Summary:** Jane scares people (Prompt: Give-away)

Part of the "Red Hot Days" series: a series of different scenes both case and non-case related scenes. This can be read as part of the series or can be read on its own. Different POVs used for different stories. Lisbon/Jane shipping and most likely

**Warning:** Takes place during season 3, so spoilers during season 3 are fair game. So currently, that's up to "Bloodhounds".

**Author's Note: ** #5 in the series

...

**Brea Mall**

"You know this is probably an elaborate scheme that ends in identity thief," Jane said as he pointed out what was currently offending his vision.

"Are you going on about the car give-away?" Lisbon asked.

He could hear the irritation in her voice. Jane had a feeling that she was still pissed that he wouldn't tell her what was in the bag and he'd managed to not let her peek either. "It's a con."

"Jane—"

He moved forwards towards where the booth was with papers and golf pencils and the drop slot in the middle and put his hand over he slot before a younger man could drop his form in. "Do you really want to do that?" he asked.

"Yeah…" the guy said slowly.

Beside the booth was a magnificent shiny new car that was being guarded by metal poles with velvet-like ropes that kept the area enclosed. It was a current year sports car. A nice bright red to catch attention. Jane couldn't deny that it wasn't good bait. It was excellent to pull the stupid fools right into their hands.

"Are you sure?"

"I think so."

Jane frowned. "You're giving away personal information. Haven't you heard of identity theft!"

"It's for the car… Mine's like twenty years old! I could use a new one!"

"Do you even know the odds of you winning?"

"Well, no…"

Jane didn't care that people were stopping and watching now. His hand stayed firmly in place. "Have you bothered to read the fine print?" he asked.

"No."

"Jane," Lisbon said and pulled on him.

Jane ignored her. "You're what? Twenty-something? You going to college?"

"Yeah…" the guy responded.

"So go learn how to read! Learn how you need to look out for scams like these! The only thing it's going to be giving away is your personal information! And while you're at it…you live in California…Southern California at that…go green…take the bus!"

"Jane! That's enough!" Lisbon said as she yanked him a good deal back. "You're scaring people!" she hissed quietly.

"You know the police should really police these scams," Jane told her. "I'm just a concerned citizen."

"More like a pain in the ass," she mumbled as she hauled him the last several yards to the doors.

Jane didn't miss that the guy that he'd been educating took his form and didn't drop it and that everyone else was avoiding the booth like the plague. See. He'd helped people.

…..


	6. Dressing Up

**Title:** Dressing Up

**Author:** Shannon – shannyfish

**Disclaimer:** I do not own "The Mentalist" or its characters, Warner Brothers and Bruno Heller do. This is merely for entertainment purposes only.

**Rating:** G

**Summary:** The CBI crash a local prom in order to solve a murder (Prompt: Prom)

Part of the "Red Hot Days" series: a series of different scenes both case and non-case related scenes. This can be read as part of the series or can be read on its own. Different POVs used for different stories. Lisbon/Jane shipping and most likely

**Warning:** Takes place during season 3, so spoilers during season 3 are fair game. So currently, that's up to "Code Red".

**Author's Note: ** #6 in the series

...

**Hotel**

Lisbon sighed as she paced the bed. Jane had just arrived moment before and laid out the garment bag that he'd purchased from the dress shop. She had agreed that they should dress up a bit to blend a little more at the prom that they were crashing, but she'd just planned on wearing a pantsuit with a nice top. She hadn't expected to see Jane's mysterious bag. He'd told her it was a gift and had left it at that.

She looked over at the small clock on the bedside table in her room and frowned. She was supposed to be ready to go in thirty minutes. It was a little pathetic, but this silly garment bag scared the hell out of her. Jane had enjoyed the dress shop way too much. Though she knew that Jane was ultimately harmless especially when it came to her, well…harmless as long as it didn't involve a case…then all hell could break loose at any given moment.

Pulling in a deep breath, she stepped towards the bed. She stared down at the bag for another moment before bending over the bed in order to unzip the bag. Lisbon did so slowly and carefully. Without knowing what was contained within the bag, she was afraid she could catch something on the zipper. She pulled the front of the bag open and over.

Inside was a beautiful dress and at the bottom was a shoebox. She gasped at the beauty of the dress contained within the bag. Lisbon ran her hands along the olive colored satin of the dress. The dress had straps, the V-neckline was formed by a twist in the fabric, and the A-line dress fell to what looked like the knees. It was beautiful, even just on the hanger.

She was going to kill Patrick Jane.

Smiling, she carefully removed it from the hanger and laid it on the bed next to the bag. Just as she realized that she didn't have the correct undergarments for the dress, she noticed the strapless bra that had been hanging behind the dress. She shook her head, but the smile didn't leave her face. Moving to the shoebox, she opened it to find a pair of very strappy copper high heels.

She just hoped that Van Pelt had something to wear that was more dressy, so that she didn't stand out too much. The guys had it easy. They could wear pretty much what they wore everyday and be done with it.

. . .

**Brea High School Prom Site**

"You know that this is completely unnecessary, right?" Van Pelt asked Jane.

"What? Policing the prom?" Jane asked.

"I think she means dressing up," Lisbon spoke up.

"I don't regret it," Jane said looking at Lisbon, a bright smile across his face.

Lisbon shook her head and went over to explain who they were and why they were there. The bad thing about the dress that Jane had brought for her to wear was that there were really no good places to put her gun or her badge. Though she'd found a solution, it really wasn't as comfortable as she was used to.

"We can go this way," Lisbon explained as she ushered her team into the dance.

As they passed the photo area, she had to drag Jane along as he'd stopped in place. "C'mon Lisbon! Let's take a group picture!" he pleaded.

She ignored him.

. . .

TBC…


	7. Really?  Are you colorblind?

**Title:** Really? Are you colorblind?

**Author:** Shannon – shannyfish

**Disclaimer:** I do not own "The Mentalist" or its characters, Warner Brothers and Bruno Heller do. This is merely for entertainment purposes only.

**Rating:** G

**Summary:** The CBI crash a local prom in order to solve a murder (Prompt: The boundaries of bad taste)

Part of the "Red Hot Days" series: a series of different scenes both case and non-case related scenes. This can be read as part of the series or can be read on its own. Different POVs used for different stories. Lisbon/Jane shipping and most likely

**Warning:** Takes place during season 3, so spoilers during season 3 are fair game. So currently, that's up to "Code Red".

**Author's Note: ** #7 in the series

...

**Brea High School Prom Site**

Jane had decided to stick with Lisbon, after all, she was kinda his date. Plus, he really didn't think she'd honestly let him get too far. If she couldn't grab him, then he was too far. Honestly, he thought she should relax and try to have fun. If this wasn't a high school event and there was alcohol, he'd have her have one. Just one…okay maybe two. He knew that Lisbon didn't drink too much, he had a feeling that ghosts haunted her if she did, but it could help to relax her.

Something clever.

He definitely needed to do something clever.

If he could just make her smile instead of looking so serious then his work there would be done! He was sure that he could accomplish that! Right? He was a clever person. He looked around and then the idea hit him suddenly. They were in the middle of prom. Girls were adorned in ridiculous dresses and the guys tried to match as best as they could but some of them looked like they borrowed their suits from the bottom of their father's closet.

"Really?" Jane said aloud to no one in particular.

"What?" Lisbon asked.

He'd piqued her interest. Excellent. He smiled and motioned to all around him. "Good thing you're not the fashion police."

"Jane…" She was rolling her eyes now, but he could tell that she was still amused. So, they'd continue to play this game. He'd yet to get the smile he wanted from her.

"I mean, really? Look at that couple," he said as he subtlety pointed out a pair. "That girl has to be suffering from some kind of eating disorder. Someone should seriously feed her a whole cow. And look, she's wearing that long yellow slinky dress and sure she looks skinny, but she also looks like a banana… And the guy she came with, did he honestly agree to this? I mean, he looks like salt water taffy or something…that white suit and yellow accents just aren't working for him…"

Lisbon giggled.

"Are my observations amusing to you, Lisbon?" he asked.

She nodded. "You're usually amusing or entertaining all the time, Jane."

It was true. He tried to keep life from being too mundane. The last thing they needed was the boring. "I can stop if you want…"

"No, I wouldn't want you to get bored. Plus, I think this keeps you out of trouble…well as long as you keep your voice down," she told him.

"I suppose the kids hearing about their poor dress options would be sad. I wouldn't want to make any of them cry on this most important night of their lives," Jane said.

Lisbon shrugged. "To most high school kids, this is the social event of the season…especially for seniors."

"Believe me, all of the boys are just wanting the night to be over so they can unzip their date's dress…" he said a little quieter, so only Lisbon could hear.

"Sadly, you're probably right about that. For the girls, they're hoping for some sort of piece of romance. They want to feel like a princess and prom is one of the few occasions where they can dress like it…tiara included."

"I bet you looked lovely at prom," Jane told her.

Lisbon shook her head. "I didn't go."

"Why not?"

"Family obligations," she told him.

Jane knew what that meant. Or at least he had a good idea of what that meant. He knew about some of Lisbon's family background, but not enough to really feel like he had a great grasp of her. Sure, he knew a lot about her from their times together and from general observation, but Lisbon was a deep person with lots of layers. He knew that there were layers that he may never be able to peel back. There was darkness there and pain.

"Ah," he simply said.

"I always had wanted to go though…"

"Tada!" he said with a smile. "Here you go… You're even dressed for it."

She smiled at him. "I had always wanted the dress and the little tiara…the whole princess effect… I think that's just childhood talking though. Every girl wants to be a princess, right?"

"I don't think it's silly," Jane told her. "You know there's actually a bunch of studies on girls and the influence of this princess generation. Sure, there's a lot of that are against, but there are quite a few for it. They've sometimes found that if a girl is allowed to dress up as a princess, even if its just the crown, that often times she can be more polite and calmer…she literally takes on the part of being a princess. Of course, there are other ones that say that they act like monsters. I think that they're kids and they'll model after the environment they're raised in…"

"I think you're right…but then at the same time I think there are other factors…"

"That's true."

How did they make it back around to a serious conversation? He had been trying to avoid such seriousness. "Are those two wearing duct tape?"

Lisbon turned her head to look. "Yep… I think the duct tape company does like a competition…"

"Huh… I suppose at least they're creative."

"Well and now it comes in more colors than silver."

"But silver duct tape is a classic," Jane said and grinned at her.

She grinned back. "It is. I have to say that I am very thankful not to be in a duct tape dress though…"

"You look absolutely stunning…by the way."

"Thanks," she said.

He could see her cheeks blushing and he smiled a bit wider. He was happy that he'd made the evening a bit special, especially since it was bound to be boring. He didn't realize that silly things like proms went until all hours and then there were after parties. Really? Where teens young enough to be awake to go to an after party? And Jane knew that there was an after-after party that involved a hotel room for a bunch of them. Seriously, how did they get all of that energy?

"Wow…"

He turned when he heard Lisbon comment. He spotted it. A couple that were wearing some really blaring colors. Their "colors" apparently were neon lemon-lime and neon red. He didn't know how they didn't go blind with such brightness… "Wow…there has to be a better word… They may not need lights in any room with those things…"

"At least it's quiet for the most part," Lisbon commented.

"Yes, but perhaps this school should have its students tested for color blindness…"

Lisbon laughed immediately.

. . .

TBC…


	8. He Did It Again

**Title:** He did it again

**Author:** Shannon – shannyfish

**Disclaimer:** I do not own "The Mentalist" or its characters, Warner Brothers and Bruno Heller do. This is merely for entertainment purposes only.

**Rating:** G

**Summary:** The CBI crash a local prom in order to solve a murder

(Prompt: **"**I don't cause commotions; I am one!" – Elphaba, Wicked)

Part of the "Red Hot Days" series: a series of different scenes both case and non-case related scenes. This can be read as part of the series or can be read on its own. Different POVs used for different stories. Lisbon/Jane shipping and most likely

**Warning:** Takes place during season 3, so spoilers during season 3 are fair game. So currently, that's up to "Code Red".

**Author's Note: ** #8 in the series

...

**Brea High School Prom Site**

Lisbon was getting tired. The kids were still running around like crazy. They had gotten louder. Her patience was pretty much gone and she was done. Jane just seemed more entertained. How, she wasn't sure… The kids had been doing pretty much the same thing since they got there. Of course, they'd pulled out about ten kids for being under the influence and about five boys had hit on her. Jane had suggested a few times that maybe they should teach pick up lines in school. She had not been amused.

"How much longer?" she asked.

"Two more hours."

"Still?"

"That's just the prom proper. That's not even counting all the after parties."

Lisbon frowned.

"I can make things more interesting," Jane said.

She looked over to Jane, his face with filled with a grin. She sighed, "Please tell me that it involves either calling in a bomb threat or pulling the fire alarm…"

"Really Lisbon?"

"Not that I'd want to encourage such behavior…"

"No, it's something much more entertaining…"

"Really?" she asked facing him.

"Really."

"What is it then?"

Jane smiled brightly. "It's more of something that I have to show you…"

"I already don't like where this is all going…" Lisbon complained. "I'm going to regret opening my mouth."

"Probably."

"Jane," she said. "Please don't do anything stupid…"

"C'mon, Lisbon," Jane said. "When do I do anything stupid?" he asked.

Lisbon glared at him, mostly just because that was possibly the most idiotic thing that Jane had questioned. Really? And he was still smiling. Jane really did know how to piss her off. "Jane…"

"What?"

"You know exactly what," Lisbon countered. "I really don't want to have to be up any longer than needed with angry police, school entities, parents, or students…and I really don't want any extra paperwork."

"Noted."

She had hoped that maybe he'd have mercy on her and just leave it be. Then he started to move and her mouth dropped a bit before she spoke. "Jane…"

"I promise not to say anything untruthful!"

And he was hurrying off. Lisbon just stared in his direction for a moment as she processed it…and then she realized where he was going. Jane was going into the main ballroom. Sure, Cho was in there, but she doubted that Cho would be able to tackle Jane and possibly cuff him to the inside of a locked closet. Lisbon made a mental note to inform Cho that that was a possibility for the future. That could come in handy. She hurried after him and hoped that he hadn't started whatever he was planning just yet.

By the time she got in there and pushed past some of the kids, she finally saw him. Jane was on the stage. God help her.

"Hi everyone! My name is Patrick Jane. I hope you're all having a good time tonight… Now, I'm sure you could all use some rest from all the dancing you've been doing…" Jane paused for a moment. "I'm sure you've all seen psychics on TV. Now, I'm sure even at your young age, most of you know that that's all a con act, but…I wanted to do a little…show…we'll call it a show. I'm going to do my own little psychic show here. I'm going to need volunteers too, so if you want to volunteer, be ready to raise those hands."

Oh God, she was so going to be fired.

"Now, I'm sure you are all concerned about the person who was murdered," Jane said. "I am going to do an amazing trick… I am going to find the killer among you, but I need some volunteers for help."

Oh God, she was definitely going to be fired.

Lisbon watched in the back with Cho as Jane played his mind games. There really wasn't much they could do, plus Jane was usually right with these kinds of things or at the very least they led to a path of him knowing what he was doing.

Jane went through his 'victims', Lisbon thought as she watched, and he had them say who they were. He instantly knew their part in the school system, who was popular and who wasn't. He was annoying like that…though right. He went back to one of the guys that was up for prom king, he was a jock and popular.

"I'm sure everyone here knows Josh," Jane said. "Some of you have known him since kindergarten…some of you may have been bullied by him since then…"

"I don't do that," Josh argued.

"Come on," Jane said as he looked at the teen. "Everyone in this room knows you do…" Jane paused for a moment. "So, it's not a stretch that you'd kill someone who got in your way."

Oh God. Lisbon brought her hand up to her face. There was a gasp from the crowd in unison followed by a lot of panicked talking amongst the prom goers. Everyone started to head out of the main room. Great, now Jane had caused mass panic. This was really not what she needed. She was wearing heels; she really didn't need to be trying to run around and calming teens.

"He did it again," Cho commented flatly.

"I know…" she complained.

"I really hate when he does that."

"Me too."

. . .

TBC…


	9. Helping with Paperwork Obviously

**Title:** Helping with Paperwork…obviously…

**Author:** Shannon – shannyfish

**Disclaimer:** I do not own "The Mentalist" or its characters, Warner Brothers and Bruno Heller do. This is merely for entertainment purposes only.

**Rating:** G

**Summary:** Jane tries to help Lisbon with paperwork. (Prompt: Ambersand)

Part of the "Red Hot Days" series: a series of different scenes both case and non-case related scenes. This can be read as part of the series or can be read on its own. Different POVs used for different stories. Lisbon/Jane shipping and most likely

**Warning:** Takes place during season 3, so spoilers during season 3 are fair game. I'm going to say spoilers up to the finale, but since I intend to use Red John later on, it's everything BUT the finale is open to be able to be spoiled.

**Author's Note: ** #9 in the series

...

**Lisbon's Office**

Jane had decided that he'd mostly stay out of Lisbon's way, but when everyone else was sent out and he was left all alone on his couch, he decided that he needed company. And who else would do, but Lisbon! He'd already checked, she was in her office. The sad thing was that she wasn't doing anything, well nothing fun. It had appeared like she was doing paperwork, but really that wasn't important. All it was, was filler work and crap that 'the powers at be' in the government had decided people under them should do so that they could look busy all the time and that so there was some record that showed that people in law enforcement were doing something. Jane secretly wondered if it was just to keep them out of donut shops.

He popped his head into Lisbon's office and offered his bright smile in order to charm his way into her office. From the pissed look on her face, she was not taking his bait. It was sad, really. Jane let himself in and made himself comfortable. He'd just take this as a challenge. He was sure that he could cheer her up and make her smile.

"So!" he said as he scooted the chair closer to her desk. "What shall we do?"

"_I_ have paperwork to do," she told him coldly. "_You _need to leave me alone so that I can finish it."

Jane frowned; she was going to make this unnecessarily difficult. So be it. "Maybe I can help you with this paperwork."

"I don't think so," Lisbon told him. "You just normally cause for there to be even more paperwork. That's something I really don't need."

"Well, I bet I could help," Jane told her and moved out of his chair before moving around her desk. He stood behind her and peeked over her shoulder. He smiled in amusement. "I think the government has something against ambersands."

"What?"

"Ambersands."

"I have no idea what you're talking about," Lisbon told him. "I think you're just making things up now."

Obviously the public school systems were lacking. "Next you're going to tell me that you don't know what a tilda is."

"Are you talking about this wavy thing on my keyboard?" she asked motioning to the key in the upper left corner of her keyboard.

"That would be a tilda."

"And this ambersands thing you speak of is something on my keyboard?" Lisbon asked. "It must be something that's never used."

"You probably use it more than you think, just not on official paperwork, which is silly…it would save you some time," Jane told her. "After all, law enforcement uses all kinds of abbreviations…you'd think they'd take advantage of the ambersand key more often!"

Lisbon frowned and looked over to her keyboard. She was studying it, he could tell. It amused him. She wasn't going to guess it and it brought him great joy.

"Tell me when you give up," Jane told her.

About five minutes of silence between the two of them.

"Give up?"

"Is it this one?" Lisbon asked as she pointed to the symbol above the number six key.

"Nope."

Lisbon frowned deeper.

"Give up, you're never going to figure it out."

"Fine…" she gave in reluctantly.

"An ambersand," he started. "Is what they call the sign for the word 'and'. It's that one right there above the seven key."

"Seriously? What kind of name for the 'and' sign is that?"

"That's what it's called."

Lisbon looked back at him. "I think you're making it up."

"Google it."

"Last time you were in here and told me to Google things you never left my office that whole day."

"And?"

Lisbon frowned. "You're making my paperwork more difficult."

"I'm helping," Jane insisted.

"You're really not," Lisbon insisted.

Jane pointed to the seven key. "I taught you the name for that."

"It's the 'and' sign, I already_ knew _that," Lisbon told him in irritation.

"But I taught you the _proper _name!"

"Jane—"

"Okay!" he said, he knew that tone. Lisbon was getting tired of his antics. That was fine, he'd just make himself comfortable in her office.

"You can go now."

"No, that's okay…I'll keep you company," he said as he made his way around her desk and made himself comfortable on the couch in her office. Jane figured that if there were any issues that arose with her paperwork then he could help. At the very least, he could quiz her later and see if she remembered what an ambersand was. She probably wouldn't, he thought as he closed his eyes and smiled. He heard her huff and smiled a bit wider.

. . .

TBC…


End file.
